German Pilot & Observer LVG/Hannover 1918
Sculpted by Steve Warrilow
Reviewed by James Fahey
This pair of figures are designed to fit the Wingnut Wings LVG & Hannover models (and should also be suitable for late war DFW C.V and Rumpler aircraft).
A little assembly is required: the pilot figure comes with a separate head and glove. I needed to shorten the neck on the pilot by a few mm to get the head down far enough. The observer comes with separate boots and a choice of two heads, one with goggles, no scarf, and the other with goggles on forehead and face covered with scarf.
Both figures are wearing the Heinecke parachute harness which came into service in the final 6-7 months of the war. I presume that the standard seatbelts were worn over the top of the harness, but these are not represented (and would have made the figures look very ‘busy’).
The pilot has a very upright sitting position and is a much bigger man than the observer and looks very confident. His right hand (which is separate) is intended to grip the control column – this will require some careful arranging. He is wearing the typical flieger combination suit and has the harness strap high across the chest .
The observer is wearing a flying coat with a large woollen turned up collar, not a flieger combination suit. He is also wearing high boots which were not typical at this stage of the war (although these will not be particularly visible once he is seated inside. His pose is hunched down to protect against the slipstream, really looks cold and miserable.
Some small holes in the resin casting were apparent but these are easily filled.
Brief painting notes are included in the box – very useful.
I bought the figures directly from The Fusilier via their website. Not sure if they will be available from other stockists as they are very recently released.
http://www.thefusilier.net/fusilier-catalogue/Code: Fus 54/13 Price £25.00 GBP ( VAT and shipping costs not included ). Post FREE within the UK & EC. International please add 10%
Payment is by Paypal
Contact Information
Tel: 01244 810878
E-mail:
[email protected]
ConclusionSteve Warrilow has done a lovely job with the sculpting, the figures are full of character and lots of detail. I like to use crew figures, they make the model ‘come alive’ and provide scale and context, despite losing visibility to much of the interior detail in the process. Highly recommended
The Heinecke ParachuteThe first couple of photos below show Leutnant Gustav Fradrich of Jasta 72 (with six victories) putting on his parachute apparatus, July 1918.
Dan San Abbott was not only an expert in WWI aviation but also worked in parachute design. His research states that the first Heinecke parachutes came out in January-February 1918 with the first deliveries to the Jastas. “The biggest delivery came with the delivery of the Fokker D.VII from April 1918”. As the production increased all units were furnished with parachutes. Mr Abbott noted the first emergency jump was by Ltn. H.Steinbrecher of Jasta 46 on 27 June 1918.
Greg van Wyngarden has written “at first, pilots were sceptical of parachutes, and some declined to wear them - not without reason. They were indeed bulky, and the pilot had to wear a large leather "Heinecke" harness as well. It wasn't until several successful jumps had been made that most German pilots began to wear them for all front flights; there might be a limited number of them available in a given unit, as well. There were a number of failures, either due to the harness failing (breaking) under stress, or of the parachute cords getting snagged on some part of the airplane as the pilot jumped, or the canopy simply failing to open”.
German aces whose lives were saved by the Heinecke parachute: Ernst Udet of Jasta 4 on 29 June, Josef Raesch of Jasta 43 on 25 July, Otto Fruhner of Jasta 26 on 20 Sept, Herbert Boy of Jasta 14 on 7 Oct, Paul Baümer on 14 Sep and Theo Osterkamp in Sept.
Several aces fell to their death due to parachute failure: Erich Löwenhardt of Jasta 10 on 10 Aug, Hans Pippart of Jasta 19 on 11 Aug, Fritz Rumey of Jasta 5 on 27 Sept.
Norman Franks writes in ‘Dog Fight Aerial Tactics of the Aces of WWI’ “The British could have had parachutes, but by some twisted logic applied by the men in power, it was thought that if airmen had the use of parachutes they might use them too liberally, or even ‘chicken out’, thereby becoming less aggressive”.
PostscriptHere are some more images I have found showing late war two seater crews
